New Colorado State football coach Jim Mora has hit the ground running in Fort Collins since he was introduced as the team’s head coach Dec. 1.
From signing new players and building a coaching staff to taking in some basketball at Moby Arena, the 25th head coach of CSU football has been busy, but he doesn’t mind the chaos, he said.
“In terms of the chaos, if you want to term it that way, I’m comfortable with it because of the people that I’ve met here and the way they’re helping me move through it,” he said. “But we have a lot to do.”
On the heels of a successful signing day in which the Rams added more than two dozen new players, Mora has turned his attention to building a staff, and one familiar name is reportedly staying on.
CBS Sports reported Monday, and the Reporter-Herald has confirmed, that defensive coordinator Tyson Summers will remain on the Rams’ staff. Summers also took on the interim head coaching role when Jay Norvell was fired mid-season.
Summers was hired as the team’s defensive coordinator prior to last season. He had previously served as CSU’s defensive coordinator in 2015 under Mike Bobo. He came back to CSU after three seasons as Western Kentucky’s defensive coordinator.
Under Summers, the Rams finished this past season second-to-last in the Mountain West in scoring defense (30.8 points allowed per game) and last in total defense at (426 yards). CSU was last in the league in rushing defense (205 yards per game) and seventh in passing defense (221).
The Rams failed to win a game in Summers’ five contests as the interim head coach.
Coaches who have announced they will not be on Mora’s staff include: associate head coach/passing game coordinator Matt Mumme; wide receivers coach/recruiting coordinator coach James Finley; and director of player personnel Nash O’Fallon. Director of scouting Kaden Semon has already found a new job as the director of player personnel at James Madison.
Likely more of the former staff have left as well, but announcements have not been made, nor have they been about any coaches coming in.
“The important thing is that we’re very deliberate in making the right decisions for this program,” Mora said of building a coaching staff.
The coaching moves follow a big signing day for Mora and the Rams in which the team added 26 high school and junior college players to their 2026 roster.
Several of those were committed to UConn but switched their allegiance to CSU following Mora’s hire and the staff’s offers to them. The highest profile of which is quarterback Carter Emanuel from Florida.
“He’s a playmaker. I’m not going to stereotype him and say he’s this guy, but he’s in the mold of a Patrick Mahomes style of play,” Mora said. “He’s creative, good ball security, good decision maker, smart young man, great family, good student, really good person, a guy that picks up and understands concepts quickly. He can adapt. He can adjust. He can come in here and be competitive right away.”
During his senior year of high school, Carter completed 176 of 275 passes for 2,237 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 406 yards and another four touchdowns.
Several CSU players have announced their intention to leave the program and enter the transfer portal. Quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and running back Jalen Dupree did so before the season ended.
Others who have announced they are leaving on social media include: offensive linemen Tanner Morley, Christian Martin, Aaron Karas and Aitor Urionabarrenechea; running backs Justin Marshall and Javion Kinnard; quarterback Jackson Brousseau and wide receiver Landon Bell.
The traditional transfer portal opens Jan. 2. Since CSU had a coaching change, with Mora replacing Norvell, players from the Rams had a 15-day period soon after Mora’s hiring to enter the portal.
